Looking for a unique personalised gift? Or maybe you're a teacher or home-schooler looking for hands-on learning activities? Welcome to my shop, where you will find handmade magnetic dress-up dolls and Bible story sets to use on a magnetic whiteboard.
My magnetic paper dolls are mounted on 3mm craft wood. The clothes attach to the dolls with magnetic dots. All items are handmade by me, from the original art work to the finished product.
***Personalised dolls can be made on request.***

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My MadeIt Shop

Handmade in Australia

About Me

I am a mother of two young children, and a primary school teacher (currently on family leave.). In both capacities I am always on the lookout for appropriate and stimulating toys that give opportunity for imaginative play and don't push commercial brands. I have always loved dabbling with paint, paper, scissors and glue. I remember making paper dolls with my mother when I was little- drawing them on stiff card, and then tracing them to make all sorts of clothes.
My sister suggested there might be a market for some paper dolls I’d made for her... and after a bit of experimenting to come up with a sturdy, child-friendly product, Amaria’s PaperWorks is the result!
Come and visit me online or message me for more information!

Friday, June 24, 2011

I “met” Erin through the MadeIt forum and we found we could help each other out- she wanted to host a giveaway, and I wanted to start using this blog to promote fellow crafters…

Erin comes from a craft-orientated family. Her mum made a living doing markets with her crafts when she was young and is still a source of inspiration.

Under the name of "Mrs Monkei" Erin makes jewellery - bracelets, earrings, necklaces, hair adornments- as well as bookmarks. She uses glass and crystal beads and semi-precious gemstones that she has collected over a number of years.

“I love creating things for people to enjoy,” Erin told me when I asked her what got her started. “I love it when people see something I have made previously and request it for themselves in their own colour choices. It feels far more individual than making stock for a shop.”

Asked to tell me a bit about her favourite piece she said, “I'm excited about the pieces I made recently for my sister-in-law's wedding.” Unfortunately Erin and her husband can't make it to England for the big day itself, but she has made hair combs for the bridesmaids as well as 100 bookmarks to be included in wedding favours for guests! “I'm very happy to be able to contribute from all the way over here in Melbourne,” she says.

At the moment Erin’s work can be seen online in her MadeIt shop and on Facebook, but she also looks forward to selling at markets in the not-too-distant future.

The Giveaway!

Erin is offering not one, but two opportunities to win something she will make especially in the winner’s choice of colours!

The first prize on offer is a bracelet similar to the one pictured below, in your choice of two or three colours.

Second prize is a flowery metal bookmark as in the photo!

All entries will be placed into a hat and drawn at 7pm on Saturday 9th July (Australian EST)

How to Enter:
Leave a separate comment below this post for each of the following actions.

This promotion is about Mrs Monkei Jewelry, but if you’ve already done all of the above (where possible) and want more opportunities, you can also earn extra entries by visiting AmariasPaperWorks on FacebookEtsy or MadeIt and leaving comments about your visits here.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Two people guessed correctly: Susanna on Facebook and Jessica on this site. Both had many other guesses as well:) They will both be allowed to choose a gift from my shop and will be notified personally of their win.

There was also a second chance draw, in which every person who participated was entered once for every guess. The winner of the draw was 6 year old Andrew, who got his Mum to enter his guess of South Africa.

I'll talk to him about his prize myself!

I've been wanting to make a pair of Indonesian dolls for a while, in honour of my Mother.
Mum was born in Indonesia, and her earliest memories are of the tea plantation where her father was a manager. When she was three years old-70 years ago this year-the war broke out and, along with her mother and her older brother and sister, she spent the next few years in a number of Japanese prison camps. Her father died as a prisoner of war on the Burma Railway.
Last month Mum took a trip to Indonesia, something she has been planning to do for years. She and my sister visited various places Mum remembered, and hearing her tell about the trip and the memories it evoked has been a special experience for me. Getting an insight into her past has made me feel as though I have come to know my mother better and appreciate her more than ever before.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Here's one of the reasons I haven't quite finished my new multicultural pair of dolls; I've spent most of the past week working on a large custom order. Four personalised dolls, their dog and at least twenty-five custom outfits! They needed to be ready for a birthday, so I had to make them a priority.

The ....?... dolls will be ready tomorrow night, however, so keep those guesses coming! Remember: one guess per comment, and each individual entry will go into a hat for a second prize draw! Multiple guesses will not be counted :(

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Three days to go before I post my new dolls and the guessing competietion closes.
So far there are several geographically close guesses but no-one has the right answer yet! If no-one guesses correctly, the closest guess wins!

I've also decided to put every entry into a hat and draw one name to win a bonus prize.
So keep those guesses coming!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

As my followers will know, I am working on expanding my "Children of the World" collection.

This collection represents children from a wide range of cultural groups based on ethnic regions including the Pacific, Asia, northern and southern Europe, the Americas and Africa.

Each pair of these sturdy dolls come as a set including a school uniform, weekend clothes, and a pair of pajamas for each of them. In addition a sample of traditional clothing for each region is included.

I've started working on the next pair already. Which brings me to the competition:

Can you guess which country is next?

You have until 7 pm on Saturday 11th June, Melbourne time, to post your guess.

You can choose either to leave a comment here or on my Facebook wall.

You may enter as many times as you like- only one guess per post, however.

The winner will be the first person to post the correct answer, based on time and date.

If no-one guesses the exact country, the prize will go to the closest geographical location.

The Prize?

The winner(s) will be allowed to choose any standard (non-custom) item from my store to the value of $25. (Excludes personalised dolls.)

I will notify the winner personally, and will post the new dolls here on Saturday 11th June!

Hint

I don't plan to double up, so I would suggest taking a look at the dolls already listed in my MadeIt store or my Etsy shop! Links to both locations are located at the top of this page.

Bonus Giveaway!!!

For the duration of this competition, anyone purchasing a doll from my shop will receive one clothes set of their choice free of charge. This offer applies to individual dolls, pairs of dolls and even personalised dolls.